


An Itty-Bitty Living Space

by RobinWritesChirps



Series: Starkid Quarantine [2]
Category: Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier - Holmes/McMahon/Lang & Lang & Gale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Comfort, Coronavirus, F/M, Family Fluff, Gen, Minor Princess/Mouthface, Quarantine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:48:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23560111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinWritesChirps/pseuds/RobinWritesChirps
Summary: Ja’far, Sherrezade and their daughters handle the newly imposed quarantines with as much patience as the now crowded home allows them.Stay home, stay safe.
Relationships: Ja'far/Sherrezade (Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier)
Series: Starkid Quarantine [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695739
Comments: 13
Kudos: 22





	An Itty-Bitty Living Space

The cats were invading Sherrezade’s office even more than usual. Tiger had perched up on top of the upper book shelf to bestow his judgement on her every move, Lion was sprawling across the couch in all his magnificent length, Bear was brushing against her legs again and again to be soothed and petted. The distraction would have already been quite enough for her, if it wasn’t for the reason of a much greater distraction outside the room. A whole five of them, in fact. The entire family had been sent home and the comfort and tranquility of working from their empty abode had turned Sherrezade’s life upside down. At least, no one was coughing.

"Too many people, huh?" She asked Bear, scratching his brown-ish black fur right between the ears where he liked it most. "Yeah."

She had put on headphones to better focus, which she never used to do in the good old days of free range all over her own home, mere days prior and yet a thousand days all the same in her own perception of time. The cats were her companions as ever but more tense, less mellow and ready to serve as her own personal stress toy. Bear meowed loudly till she picked him up to keep him on her lap as she wrote her next article. If she listened at a normal and wise volume, then she could hear the excited cries of the children in the kitchen, eating a late breakfast when there was all the time in the day for it. If she turned up the volume, then her head ached with it and she feared to become hard of hearing before the end of the quarantine. She did not think ENT doctors were much available at the moment.

The alarm of her timer vibrated loudly and nearly startled her. A stricter regimen of discipline for the first time today, as the editor had announced overnight that their website would now produce double the amount of content to meet the growing needs of entertainment for the people at home. Sherrezade sighed, looking at the page that wasn’t quite as filled up as she had hoped by the time of her first break. She supposed she would make extra time later, as time seemed to be the only remaining resource available in plenty. A quick stretch and she left the cats to their leisure inside the office on their own.

Ja’far and the girls were fussing over his computer at the kitchen island. Her dear husband seemed nowhere near ready to be giving the required lesson at the scheduled time. She smiled and gave his shoulder a gentle touch as she passed behind him to grab a persimmon from the pantry.

"No, you have to create the group first," Badroul was saying, suddenly an expert on all online meetings, who had not yet started her own classes.

"I thought you created the class and _then_ you invited the students?" Jasmyn counterbalanced.

"Don’t forget the security settings," Badour said. "There’s some shady shit going on if you don’t."

Ja’far tsskd at her crude language but his priority was in trying to set up his physics lesson. The white board behind him barely fit on the kitchen countertop. He had insisted on giving Sherrezade their home office for her comfort, who had given her thanks and not dared to tell him that at a normal time, her office was wherever she would choose to lay around anywhere in the house. Normal times weren’t a thing of the present anymore, however, and she was glad to at least have her poorly insulated, small and solitary office. If not familiar, it was at least the quietest part of the home.

She took a bite of the persimmon, leaning against the counter as she observed the animated debate with a smile. Ja’far, for all he teached the wonders of science, had never been much of a technology expert, though she suspected that the girls did not have the purest interests of getting this solved as fast as possible either. Flocked all around him, their advice was contradictory at best and various levels of helpful or unhelpful depending on the child. An even greater suspicion was that their elder daughter was delaying the class as long as she could. Jasmyn had groaned and complained about the notion of having to sit his class here at home in front of her father talking to a camera. Although the compromise had been reached that she would sit the class from the comfort of her own room upstairs, she was far from looking forward to this makeshift homeschool experience. Sherrezade pressed herself to Ja’far’s back, tucking her chin above his shoulder to have a look at the screen. She smiled.

"Your mic is off, love," she said and kissed his cheek as she clicked the button for him.

Jasmyn groaned, but the class started regardless and she dragged her feet upstairs to attend it on her laptop. Ja’far grinned at Sherrezade, who blew him a kiss before nodding at the twins to follow their sister to their rooms, for surely the time had come for their own classes to begin as well. She could have laughed − or cried − at the notion that the whole family, though gathered in the same house, were more or less each holed up into various rooms on their own. Quarantine within quarantine. Any effort for the most vulnerable, she supposed, and thought of her poor Marjanah upstairs.

Work was harder than ever today and not just for the extra presence in the house, for the sound of Ja’far’s voice through the wall, much as she adored it. Sherrezade, by nature and by choice, was less of a worrier than him and made it her goal to be his comfort in all hard times. The situation, however, went far beyond her own realm of confidence and she felt nagging at the back of her mind the fear for the lives of everyone she loved. If the articles she dropped today were subpar, she would just have to blame the circumstances and not her own qualities as a writer.

A few hours later, she took another break. Ja’far was deeply engrossed in the study of his lesson notes for the next lesson but lit up at her presence and held her by the waist when she went to check on him.

"How was it?" She asked, leaning her face into his shoulder comfortably. "Are you a tech guru now?"

He laughed. She saw his hand twitch with the urge of holding hers on the countertop and, making the choice for him, she caught it and entwined their fingers.

"I think just about a third of the first class was all the students trying to teach me," he admitted. "But it went well enough."

Their health be damned, she kissed his temple.

"I’ll go check on the girls," she said, "If Jasmyn died from boredom at some point in the morning, I’m blaming you, dear."

"I think she’ll blame me as well," he replied with a sigh. "Give her my love. She didn’t say a word the whole lesson."

Sherrezade grabbed a handful of cookies for the girls. Upstairs, she noted with pride and satisfaction that they had been very applied to their classes, from the sound of it − or rather, lack thereof. She had to knock twice for Jasmyn to mumble a reply and she barely looked up when Sherrezade entered the room. With a teenager and especially with their own rebellious teenager, there was always the possibility that she was faking working but Sherrezade thought she knew her at least enough to spot the difference. She handed her a cookie.

"This one’s from me," she said. She kissed the top of her hair and Jasmyn looked up at her. "And this one’s from your father."

The girl huffed and went back to the assignment she had been working on, munching on the cookie.

The twins, she soon realized, were quiet for an entirely different reason. What with Marjanah locking herself in, they were to share a room again and Sherrezade was reminded why the arrangement had been to separate them in the first place. Badroul was sulking in a corner, Badour in the opposite one. After some prodding, Sherrezade uncovered the cause of the bickering, Badroul making herself a little too much at home in the room that was to be hers for the rest of their impromptu and compulsory stay at home, begging her sister for more attention and conversation than the much quieter twin was willing to give. After a fight, they had decided on never talking to each other again. When Sherrezade gave each of the girl a cookie and a kiss, however, Badroul looked forlornly at her frowning sister and sheepishly offered her cookie as a peace offering.

She knocked at the door of the room Marjanah was presently occupying, her sister’s at a normal time. In a fit of anxiety, Marjanah had declared that her not-so-mild asthma was now a lethal danger to her own health and had buried herself in the single bedroom, shoving Badroul out to switch rooms with her. She had not come out in days except for bathroom breaks secretively taken when no one else was around. Sherrezade suspected that the child’s reserved and caustic nature had been a chief reason for the self-imposed quarantine, but she could do nothing but commend her for making informed health decisions.

"You okay, sweetie?"

Marjanah’s voice was distant through the door, like she was sitting on the very opposite end of the room.

"Yeah," she replied. "I’m fine."

Sherrezade stared at the closed door. She missed her younger child, three days since the last time she had held her in her arms and possibly much longer to come. Each of the children they had borne were so special, all clever and independent and kind, if she was allowed the brag. Jasmyn’s cranky reluctant kind heart, Badroul’s endless burst of ideas all sillier and more dangerous than the next, Badour’s quiet and reliable countenance, her three elders were each a blessing in their own right. Just as special, Marjanah’s clever wits and quick spirit were wholly unique and no amount of attention from the rest of the family filled the longing she had for the youngest girl.

"How are classes? Your dad is struggling."

A low chuckle filled her heart with sweetness.

"Yeah, he’s emailed me like four times so far." Sherrezade smiled. "Classes are fine. Better than going to school, I guess."

Sherrezade nodded before remembering that no wooden door would convey the motion.

"Yes, I suppose," she said. "I brought you a cookie, can I come in and give it to you?"

"No."

The reply was so decisive Sherrezade pouted but Marjanah relented on her own.

"Leave it outside the door," she said, "Please. I don’t wanna get sick and die, Dad and I have a chess tournament in the fall."

Sherrezade laughed but put down the cookie in front of the door.

"Enjoy the rest of your classes, then, sweetheart."

"Uh huh. Sure, you too. Your writing thing."

From the window at the end of the hall, Sherrezade spotted Jack Bauer Dikrats walking the dogs again – or, by their pulling the leashes so enthusiastically, the dogs were walking him. Slippery When Wet had sewn the whole family masks of various plaid patterns for their protection. She had dropped a whole box of them for Sherrezade's family as well, a blessing readily received.

The rest of the day was a series of rearranging her life to its new pace. She recorded an episode of her podcast, periodically interrupted by sounds from upstairs which she chose to ignore for her own sanity. Jasmyn came to ask for her help for an English Literature assignment, a rarity she cherished in her own mind but didn’t point out for fear it might not happen again. For lunch, Ja'far made sandwiches which he cut into funny shapes for the girls' sarcastic amusement of having to stay home like preschoolers again. The girls bickered and reconciled again. Slippery When Wet Dikrats walked the dogs in the afternoon. Sherrezade sent another article for approving.

Ja’far was no less grumpy than the rest of them, though he hid it a little better, only showing himself somewhat more needy than usual. As it happened, Ja’far had a free afternoon from school on Mondays, which was always spent right at home enjoying the company of his wife. As the house was now crowded with their four children, the limits of their entertainment had been much more tame than usual. As she took a break from work for a couple of hours in the afternoon, they cuddled on the couch and he was more affectionate, more demanding than ever, craving her conversation and her love. She was, after all, all too happy to provide.

"I’m exhausted," he admitted and pulled her closer to kiss her temple. If she were to get sick, she supposed he would share that as well. "I didn’t know how much I admired you for doing this every day. So many things to learn, yet you’re keeping on the same as before."

She laughed and poked him with a finger playfully.

"The same?" She said. "There’s five more people in the house than usual, my dear, this couldn’t be more different than my everyday."

He grasped the hand and gave it a kiss to show compassion. On the edge, seeking her affection by pouring out his own so generously. Some of Sherrezade’s friends had joked about the isolation hopefully rekindling their marriage. Of course, her own marriage to Ja’far needed no such thing as reigniting it, bright and blazing from the start and up to this point and forever, but she would be glad to get their Monday afternoons back after all of this, if the measures were even lifted before summer. They couldn’t exactly tell the kids how frustrated they were that their weekly scheduled bedroom date was canceled until further notice. At least they might make up for it at night past bedtime the same as ever. She kissed her husband and bitterly enjoyed the start of a new chapter of her family’s life. She hoped to reach the end of it soon.

Jasmyn spent the better part of the afternoon at her window yearningly trying to make conversation with her girlfriend from the neighbor house. Mouthface had invaded her brother’s room, which unlike hers faced the house of her girlfriend. The two lost lovebirds were half texting and video-chatting, half shouting across the few yards between them for the neighborhood to hear. Eventually, both sets of parents relented and agreed to allow the girls to take a walk together. A mask-clad Mouthface came waiting for Jasmyn in front of the house, who matched her mask to hers before joining her for a quiet stroll around the otherwise empty streets. If they held hands once they were out of sight, Sherrezade could only forgive them. Ja’far would make Jasmyn scrub them neat anyways.

The girls had it in their mind to teach him video games. Sherrezade took a special enjoyment in watching her otherwise serious and unplayful husband take a part to their game, give every effort to engage with it. The game gave very little back.

"No, dad, you’re going backwards again, the lap is from start to finish, not the other way around!"

Ja’far never won any game, but at least by the time they called it a day his margin of failure was slightly slimmer than at the start. Jasmyn came back from her walk much more cheerful than she had been all day, which prompted teasing sneers from her sisters that were ignored, so relieved she was from having finally bridged the immense gap of two and a half days without seeing Mouthface face to face. All on her own she volunteered herself to help Ja’far make dinner and Sherrezade heard their happy chatter all the way from the kitchen despite the closed door.

"I’ll get Marjanah her plate," Badour said when Ja’far announced dinner ready. She washed her hands thoroughly before cautiously carrying the small platter upstairs for their self appointed quarantined.

"I’ll set up the cam," Badroul said and set up the tablet at the end of the table where the girl usually sat.

Dinner went just as usual, if for the physical absence of their younger child who made up for it by exchanging snark with her sisters before shutting the chat down as soon as she was done eating. The girls chatting and bickering the same as ever, but frantic with a different nervous energy. All their activities had been canceled, though there was talk of Jasmyn’s self-defense classes going online and Ja’far’s weekly game of checkers with the imam achieved through video chat. He had already drawn up lists of books he planned on reading from his personal collection by the time the library would open its doors again.

Of course they went to bed together, of course they soothed each other and promised each other support and affection till the end of time, and especially through this troubled era. In the snap of fingers, the world had become a completely different place, a scary one for sure, but nestled in Ja’far’s embrace, her ear pressed to the steady beat of his heart, Sherrezade knew for sure that so long as she was his and he was hers, nothing could truly scare her. Staying home with the love of her life wasn’t such a hard compromise after all.


End file.
